Tonight Trevor Noah, the South African comic, will officially replace the most watched and trusted name in fake news—Jon Stewart—and will usher in a new era of "The Daily Show."
Along with new correspondents and a new logo, there’s also a new set. The new desk, which will soon become Noah’s home base, was moved from the corner of the studio to the center, making space on both sides of the desk for correspondents, screen monitor interactions and musical performances.
What can we expect?
At a media preview on Friday, Noah said he would find a way to “approach topics in a way it’s authentic to Trevor, but at the same time speak to what 'The Daily Show' stands for.” (Yes, he spoke in the third person.)
And if his foreign born status conjures up that classic "Mean Girls" moment—after all, He’s not even from here!—well Noah is in on the joke, too. He and the writers will incorporate his discovery of the United States and American culture and politics, making it an integral part of the show.
“I’m not afraid to say I don’t know…But the fun part is the learning and I think sometimes transferring that learning into a TV show and giving that to the audience is fantastic,” Noah said.
“It’s like a child. They learn new things and you get to relearn it with them and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that is a strange thing. Why do we spell words like that? Why do we say words like that? Why is the word like this?’ We get to re-ask those questions and I think that’s what 'The Daily Show' will be doing in a different way now.”
It’s easy to assume that Noah is overly confident by his gracious optimism and upbeat energy. But that’s not the case. The 31-year-old is nervous, just like anybody would be on their first day on a new job.
“There’s pressure. But there’s pressure when you are stepping into any shoes when you are doing any job that you love,” said Noah.
“'The Daily Show' is a beautiful house that I inherited and I’m going to walk in. I’m not going to break the house down and start building a new house from there. I say, ‘This is a beautiful house that’s been here for many years. It’s a landmark and so what I’ll do is create the home of my dreams with my new family.’”
"The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" starts tonight on Comedy Central at 11 pm EST and will simulcast on additional Viacom channels.
